Prior information notice

A prior information notice (veiledende kunngjøring) tells the market that a contracting authority plans to buy something. The Public Procurement Regulations (anskaffelsesforskriften) only regulate it in Part III, which applies at or above the EEA thresholds for supply, service and works contracts, but not to special services (særlige tjenester) or health and social services. The § references on this page are to the Regulations. Under Part III, the notice must contain a short description of the procurements (§ 21-3), and the contracting authority can publish it on Doffin, the Norwegian national database for procurement notices, and TED (Tenders Electronic Daily), the EU's database of procurement notices, or on the buyer profile on its own website. In that case, the contracting authority must first send a notice to TED that the buyer profile is being used (§ 21-3 (2) and § 21-4). A prior information notice does not advertise the competition. According to DFØ (the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management), a contracting authority cannot advertise a competition with a prior information notice, so the competition itself comes in a separate notice. Under the Norwegian rules, a prior information notice used as a call for competition is a separate notice type, described below.

In competitions under Part III, a prior information notice can give the contracting authority the right to set a shorter time limit for tenders when the competition comes: at least 15 days in an open procedure, and 10 days in a restricted procedure and in a competitive procedure with negotiation. The conditions are that the prior information notice was published no earlier than 12 months and no later than 35 days before the competition was advertised, and that it contained all the information the notice form asks for, insofar as that information was available at the time. In a restricted procedure and a competitive procedure with negotiation, it must also not have been used as a call for competition (§ 20-2 (2), § 20-3 (4) and § 20-4 (3)). The Regulations set no minimum time limits for tenders in Part II and Part IV (both explained in the next paragraph), so there is no minimum time limit to shorten there (§ 8-14 for Part II; Part IV has no rule on time limits, only the general duty in § 30-1 (2) to run the competition so that suppliers are treated equally).

A prior information notice used as a call for competition (forhåndskunngjøring) is something else: it is the notice that advertises the competition itself. It must state that the contract will be awarded without further publication of a call for competition, and invite interested suppliers to express their interest (§ 8-17, § 21-2 and § 30-5). In competitions under Part III, only contracting authorities other than central government authorities can use it, and only in a restricted procedure and a competitive procedure with negotiation after prior publication of a notice. The notice must then state precisely what the contract covers, and be sent for publication no earlier than 12 months and no later than 35 days before the day the contracting authority invites the suppliers to confirm their interest (§ 21-2 (2)). In Part II, which applies from NOK 1.3 million excluding VAT up to the EEA thresholds (except health and social services), and to special services (særlige tjenester) from NOK 1.3 million with no upper limit, and in Part IV, which applies to health and social services at or above NOK 8.7 million excluding VAT, the Regulations do not limit who can use a prior information notice as a call for competition (§ 8-17 and § 30-5), but Part II only allows the open and the restricted procedure (§ 8-3).

After a prior information notice used as a call for competition under Part III, the contracting authority must invite the suppliers that have expressed interest to confirm it, in writing and simultaneously, and the time limit for requests to participate runs from the day the invitation is sent (§ 20-3 (1), § 20-4 (1) and § 23-2 (2)). Such a notice can cover several contracts over a period. If the contracting authority will not award further contracts during that period, it must say so in the contract award notice (§ 21-6 (3)).

A prior information notice gives you time. It tells you what the contracting authority plans to buy before the competition is advertised, and in competitions under Part III it can mean a shorter tender deadline when the competition comes. Advice: use the time to decide whether to bid, gather references and documentation, and find partners or subcontractors. If the contracting authority invites you to a dialogue, that is a chance to influence the requirements; see the page on market dialogue.

A prior information notice used as a call for competition requires you to act now. No other notice of the competition will follow, and under Part III the contracting authority must invite the suppliers that have expressed interest to confirm it. DFØ describes the same procedure for Part II. Advice: express interest as soon as you see such a notice that fits, and within the time limit if the notice has one. When the invitation comes, the time limit for requests to participate starts to run. Under Part III, in a restricted procedure and a competitive procedure with negotiation, contracting authorities other than central government authorities can also agree the tender deadline with the invited suppliers (§ 20-3 (3) and § 20-4 (3)); see the page on the tender deadline.

How to tell them apart: if the notice says that the contract will be awarded without further publication of a call for competition, and invites you to express interest, it is a prior information notice used as a call for competition. If it only announces planned purchases, without that statement, it is a prior information notice, and the competition will be advertised later. Advice: follow prior information notices on Doffin and on the buyer profiles of the contracting authorities you want to supply, not only competitions that have been advertised.

In February, a central government directorate publishes a prior information notice on Doffin and TED about a planned purchase of IT equipment for NOK 5 million excluding VAT. That is above NOK 1.63 million, the EEA threshold for central government supply contracts, so Part III applies. The prior information notice contains all the information the form asks for. In May, the directorate sends the notice of an open procedure to TED with a 15-day tender deadline. That is allowed, because the prior information notice came no earlier than 12 months and no later than 35 days before. You followed the notices in February and have had three months to prepare. A supplier that only follows advertised competitions has 15 days.

A municipality instead uses a prior information notice as a call for competition for a restricted procedure for office furniture worth NOK 4 million excluding VAT, above the EEA threshold of NOK 2.5 million for municipalities. You express interest. Three months later, the municipality sends the invitation to confirm interest, and the time limit for requests to participate runs from that day. No new notice of the competition follows.